You might be thinking that a Duesenberg is a car, and you’d be right. It’s one of the classiest automobiles ever to emerge from the United States. Hand-built and high-tech, your brand-new Duesenberg could take you to 135 mph in the 1930s, roads and weather permitting. One thing was for sure: the cops weren’t going to catch you. Indeed, even now, eighty years later, they probably still wouldn’t catch you in your beautiful supercharged Duesenberg with its gorgeous creased exhaust pipes emerging from the sides of the engine compartment in a magnificent precursor to Steampunk.

Was it any wonder that superstars like Gary Cooper desired such a magnificent animal of a motor car? Like any self-respecting Hollywood film star, Gary didn’t own just one of these beasts.

Here he is in the wonderful 1930 model

But this is the one I like, for reasons that might become evident later.

Now, how sweet is that? The 1935 Model SSJ Duesenberg. Can you think of anything more beautiful than this design, more purposeful and just plain right? Put yourself behind the wheel of this amazing machine and crank it up to a full 135 mph on the open road with its double Bugatti engine singing as it stretches out in front of you while the supercharger rams that hard-packed air back into the cylinders for added power.

Can you think of anything more beautiful? Maybe not, but what about another Duesenberg? What about this magnificent artefact?

Guess what? Despite popular belief, Duesenberg cars and Duesenberg guitars are not from the same company, though they share German origins and the same meticulous attention to detail. It’s not even certain that the word Doozy came from either of them, but who cares?

Here’s the thing. This little town of Limerick produces far more than its fair share of great musicians. I don’t know why, but it’s true, and one of our local bands, Tumbledown, have just released an official video for their latest single, Chink in my Armour, featuring a beautiful Duesenberg guitar, though sadly not a thundering, snarling 135 mph roadster for me to blast off down the motorway.

Damn. You can’t have everything. By the way, did you know that a Rickenbacker once drove a Duesenberg?